Smartphones could transform lung health with one breath

Aware device
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering

Advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), technology and mobile sensing may allow patients to measure lung function with the use of smartphones. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a R01 grant to Wei Gao, PhD, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering. 

Wei Gao, PhDWei Gao, PhDUniversity of PittsburghWith the five-year, $3.14 million grant, the team will build upon existing technology to develop and test a pulmonary evaluation mobile device that can serve as an accessible and affordable alternative to traditional lung diagnostic tools. Dr. Gao will lead the project alongside co-principal investigator Erick Forno, MD, MPH, a pediatric pulmonologist and professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine. 

“We want to allow people to monitor their lung function at home, just like they monitor their blood pressure, with some easy-to-use devices,” Dr. Gao told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The device, which they’ve named AWARE (Acoustic WAveform Respiratory Evaluation), amplifies auditory signals from a smartphone while a patient breathes into the mouthpiece of a tube connected to the phone. Then, using machine learning techniques, the software will convert the sounds, strength, capacity and rate into actionable valuations, such as estimating lung function and detecting abnormalities that are associated with disease exacerbations.

“We turn your phone’s speakers and microphones into a sensing device similar to sonar, then use a BPA-free 3D printed plastic mouthpiece to direct these acoustic signals from the phone to people's airways,” Dr. Gao said in a university news release. “Then, we analyze the reflected signal to get to know the shapes and conditions of the airways, and we use machine learning and biostatistical algorithms to analyze the refracted signals.”

Clinical trials of AWARE will include approximately 1,000 participants from Pitt and Indiana University. Dr. Forno said he is excited about the potential of AWARE to give patients more control and provide more precise, personalized treatments.

“As a pulmonologist, I think the longitudinal impact and the ability to do this over time is going to be very important,” Dr. Forno said in the release. “…If this becomes a long-term use product, then I would learn what the normal [lung function] is for each person I treat and more accurately detect what's outside of their normal range.”

In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that more than one million adults in Pennsylvania had asthma. Additionally, the sixth leading cause of death in the United States is chronic respiratory conditions, such as COPD. This new solution will allow individuals from low-income, minority, elderly and/or rural communities, in particular, to improve their pulmonary outcomes by monitoring lung health at home or through telehealth visits.

“There’s a great need to use telemedicine outside the clinic to continuously monitor and evaluate pulmonary disease conditions and progress, especially in regions with limited health care access.” Dr. Gao said. “There are some existing devices, but they are very expensive, inaccurate and require very forced breathing maneuvers that are difficult for children, the elderly and even our healthiest patients.” 

According to the multidisciplinary team, “AWARE would also make it easy to transmit the data from the smartphone directly to the hospital so clinicians can increase medication or alert patients to visit them if their condition worsens.”

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